


A Different Choice

by Huntress87



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hunter Bela, Somewhat canon divergent, Sort of Thief Bela
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-18 08:02:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 21,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9375689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress87/pseuds/Huntress87
Summary: A Story of What If. What if Bela made a different choice 5 years prior to her meeting the boys?  How will it change things? Some things are different but destiny guarantees that some things will play out the same way.*See note at beginning.





	1. Chapter 1 Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all. This is my first fic post here at AO3. I've been reading on it for a while now but all my other stories were at FF. This one is my current work in progress. It's taken me a long time to get updating it again. I brought it over here as I would love to see some Bela stories and hoping this is a start. Yes, it's been almost 10 years (crazy) since she was killed off. It still gets to me and I still love her. So, I'm going to continue writing so long as I have motivation to do so and so long as I can continue thinking of stories. I'm copying this over from FF so if you've already read this that's why :) 
> 
> Please note: Reviews are welcome, but keep them positive. If you hate Bela Talbot, just ignore the fic and move on. If you love her, please feel free to tell me! If there needs to be edits or if you dislike the grammar or whatever else, please leave nice constructive criticism and I'll take that into account before I write the next chapters.  
> This story is up to chapter 19 on Fanfiction.net
> 
> Anyways...I hope you enjoy the story. Thank you ahead of time to those who comment or give Kudos, etc. If you have questions about this story please ask.

**Prologue**

**May 1998.**

Abigail R. Wilkinson had gotten peace from him today. There had been a large event held at their home and he'd been too busy to worry about her. She wasn't needed anymore to keep up appearances, so she made her way outside to the swings she'd labeled as her spot since the day her late mother sat there with her. Things started changing last week. Although she shouldn't have been talking about it with anyone, she'd befriended the housemaid's daughter that week. At first, the young girl was quiet. Then suddenly she started speaking freely with Abby, asking all kinds of questions about her life. She'd introduced herself as Lilly. Abby made stuff up though. She knew better than to talk about her life. She'd tried it once before, when her mother died. Abby was six at the time. She knew who was responsible, and when she tried to speak the truth to people about what happened, no one believed her. "Daddy" was a 'kind gentlemen who loved his wife and child'. No one was going to believe otherwise. When he'd caught her about to tell the truth, he made sure she knew not to try that again. However, the real problems didn't start until four years ago. She hadn't understood the first year or two, but knew it was bad. Once she reached 11 though, she started to realize how bad what he was doing really was. She thought it would stop when he remarried. It didn't. And this new woman kept silent, didn't really care. She'd married him for money anyhow.

So now here Abby was. She'd been friends with Lilly for a week. She'd grown close to the girl, started to trust her and spill little bits about her life. Lilly had made a promise not to say anything unless Abby wanted her to. Then there was the day things changed. That day was today.

"Abby, I think I can help you." said Lilly.

"Help me? How?"

"Well, don't be mad...but I've talked about your problem with someone I know...and..."

"What! You promised. Did you tell your mum?" Abby questioned.

"No, not her. Don't worry, you'll be safe. Look, I can make sure he doesn't hurt you anymore...well, at least not for a while."

"How?" "You just have to trust me. You can be free of him."

"I don't understand."

"I can take care of all of this for you. I'm not just the maid's daughter, I'm your friend. But I also am different from you."

Lilly took Abby's hand. Abby couldn't be sure, but she'd thought she'd seen Lilly's eyes change, but that wasn't possible. And Lilly was right, she'd been a good friend to her.

"Tell me."

"I'll take care of them for you, and it won't cost you anything. Not for ten years at least. You get to be free of him. You can leave here if you want."

"Where would I go?" Lilly shrugged. "There are plenty of places, and you're getting older. A few more years and you can do whatever you want."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Told you, I'm different. I have ways of helping people. So what do you say? Will you let me help you? Say the word, and I can get you away from him. Yes or no?"

Part of Abby worried about this. Was this a trick? What if he found out she was planning on getting away from him? Her mom died trying to get free of him, of trying to get Abby free of him too. _But at least her mother had tried_.

"Um..."

"Come on Abby! You can do it. You get 10 years of freedom, you don't have to see him anymore."

"Why 10 years?" Lilly shrugged. "Sorry, all I can guarantee for you is 10 years. I can't say if you will see him again after that. However, you'll be older, and stronger if you do."

"Okay."

"So is that a yes?" "Yes, I'll do it. Whatever you need to do. Do it, I want to be free, I don't know how much longer I can continue this."

"Perfect! Don't worry Abigail, your life's about to change."

Abby smiled, but again she had seen Lilly's face and thought she almost seemed too happy, too much of a smirk. Weird. Abby brushed it off for the sake of freedom. Lilly stood, Abby followed suite. Lilly then reached in and kissed Abby on the cheek, well almost the corner of her mouth. She then ran off. Abby wasn't sure what really was happening? She agreed, but could Lilly really help her? She had her doubts.

* * *

Abby's doubts were gone the next morning. Her father was taking her and her stepmother into town, as he had business to attend to. He'd gone down to the car already, and her stepmother had followed. Abby was running late though. She could hear his yells, getting impatient with her. So she rushed her second shoe on and made her way out of the house and onto the walkway towards the drive. Before she could take another step though, she heard a noise and then the car suddenly burst into flames. She fell backwards from the blast, but otherwise was not hurt. What had just happened? Abby yelled for help and before long she there were trucks and sirens sounding.

She was taken to the hospital to be checked, but was okay and then someone from child services had come for her and taken her home. The day of the funeral came, and she didn't cry. She couldn't cry for him, not after he'd been the one responsible for her mother's death. And her stepmother, well not her either. Who could know about a child being abused and never say a word? However, Abby was still in shock. How had this happened? Here she had planned on getting free of them, and now they were dead. Wait, was that just a coincidence? She got her answer though, when she saw Lilly standing across the cemetery. Lilith smirked, this time Abby knew. This was...had Lilith planned this? That didn't make sense though, because she said 10 years. He couldn't get to her in 10 years, he was dead.

The service was over and Abby ran. She went further into the cemetery, behind several trees. Lilly showed up.

"Did you do this? They're dead!" Abby yelled.

"Me? No, I didn't...but someone who works for me did." Lilly's eyes turned red. However, it was fake. She didn't show her true color.

"What? What are you talking about? You're just.."

"Not who you think? My name is Lilith. And you Abigail, agreed to this. You made the deal. You wanted to be free."

"I didn't say to kill them."

"Well you didn't say not to. Isn't this what you really wanted? He killed mummy, and now he's gone. You're free now, and you got justice."

"How could you..."

"How, oh honey, it's what demons do."

"Demons? That's not...you're not...not possible."

"Definitely possible. Look, you can't take it back okay? Too late. I had my fun here with you. Now it's your turn. Go do whatever you want Abby."

"No you said...you said 10 years of freedom, but he's dead."

"I know...10 years without him and then you'll have to join him...in Hell. Sorry dear.

"What!? NO..." "Like I said, you agreed. It's done. See you in 10 years. I so can't wait!"

Abby stayed at the cemetery, though she knew there were people with the child services waiting for her. She went back to the grave, but not her fathers. She stood in front of the one a few spots from him.

**_Isabela Marie Wilkinson. 1963-1990. Devoted Mother and Wife._ **

Abby never let herself cry around him. He didn't like it. So now, she was going to let herself cry just this once before she left. Abby missed her mother. The mother that actually loved her, and fought hard to try to take her daughter and leave. If only he hadn't caught her. Abby didn't have a choice. So she did what she could, try to live. Except she didn't want to, she wanted a way out. But how? She spent a few years in the system, and finally ran away when she was 16. Not too long after that, she got herself over to the States.

This is where her story really starts.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first story that is truly AU and changes the past events. So therefore, this fic is about Bela the hunter/thief. She's mostly a hunter who sometimes is still the 'purveyor of powerful occult objects' when she needs money or needs an object or something. Her choice, made clear at the end of this chapter or next, is where the AU takes off! :) I have a lot of Headcanon(I think that's what people call it) about Bela's past & you'll notice it in many of my Bela fics.  
> This one is going to go fast...skipping through Bela's past to get to the main story.

 

> **May 2002**
> 
> Abigail left the building she'd just spent the past few hours in trying to start a new life. She was 18 now, this was her time. New identity, new passport...everything. No more Abigail, the name he'd picked out giving her mother no choice except for her middle name, Rose, so she kept that. She'd taken her mother's name, partly. Isabela Rose Talbot, or Bela. It seemed fitting now. Bela wished she felt more happy, more free. However, the deal hanging over her head kept her from celebrating her new life.
> 
> Bela arrived in the States a few days later. She'd went back to her childhood home first and sold many of the possessions inside. The lawyers had asked her to sign the deed to the house, she refused. Told them to sell it. She wasn't going back there ever again. As soon as she got enough income from selling some of the paintings and art inside she got on a plane and left England.
> 
> * * *
> 
>  
> 
> **6 months later:**
> 
> On the outside, it might've looked like she was trying to move on. Bela couldn't though, so she sat in a library in Connecticut in a section of very old books on demon lore. She was doing as much research as she could on demon deals, and trying to see if there was any way out. She hadn't had much luck though. She was going to have to find another way. She needed more connections, she needed more than what she was finding in libraries and bookstores. She found a small shop eventually, and headed in to pick up some items and books. The almost 19 year old had become quite resourceful in the last several months. What she hadn't expected was help.
> 
> Marcus Turner showed up in front of her desk one day, and started asking questions she wasn't sure she wanted to answer. She brushed him off at first, until he finally got her attention, asking her what she knew about demons. Moments later, she learned more than she'd expected. There were people who were hunters, of demons and more, and he was one of them. He told her if it was a demon she was after, he could help. And help he did.
> 
> * * *
> 
>  
> 
> **1 Month Later** :
> 
> "Seriously, I think I got it." She said, a bit sarcastic and a bit frustrated.
> 
> He sighed. Bela stood with her gun aiming at the target set up for her.
> 
> "Again." He told her.
> 
> Bela took her shot, and hit it perfectly. The hunter only slightly smiled. Bela knew that meant she'd done well though. Marcus didn't praise her often or celebrate her success. She liked that about him. She was learning to be confident, but she was always hardest on herself. No one would ever know that about her. She didn't want him to be soft with her, she needed tough, as much as one would think it'd be the opposite after all she'd been through. Maybe that was why. She'd never been coddled, and certainly wasn't expecting to be now.
> 
> "I still do not see how this will help me if guns won't stop demons."
> 
> "Trust me, you start poking around in the supernatural world to find your demon, you're gonna come across some other shit that ain't friendly honey. Not to mention unfriendly people. Some of them's as bad as your demon."
> 
> Bela nodded. She knew that, of course. Maybe if she'd known how to take care of herself four years ago, she'd have been able to stop her father all on her own...or at least he'd have let her go. Too late now. She was exhausted. She'd been at the shooting range for several hours perfecting her shot. They'd spent a few hours before that on self-defense training, as well as other weapons of Marcus' choosing.
> 
> There were times when Marcus had to remind himself she as still just a kid. It was hard, the way she carried herself and the way she talked anyone would take her as a young woman of at least twenty-one, maybe older. Not eighteen. He had a good 13 years on her.
> 
> **Four months later:**
> 
> Marcus sent her out on her first hunt. Told her it was a practice run for demons. Not only had she done great at the grunt work, but what she was good at was the background work. She was a quick learner in the art of talking to victims and their families, as well as getting information from cops. Maybe it was because she was a woman. She'd rather do the chatting and undercover work than the leg work anyhow.
> 
> * * *
> 
>  
> 
> **March 2003**
> 
> She'd been on her own a few times since the first. Marcus had taught her well, and the rest she'd taught herself. She'd grown accustomed to the supernatural lore. And she'd also came across names of other hunters. Her money from selling the house as well as the items inside it had allowed her to get most of what she'd ever need. One night she'd come across an item of no use to her, or to many other hunters. So she sold it to some guy she'd met and he was very interested in it.
> 
> "What did you do that for?" Her mentor asked. He pretended to be annoyed with her, but really wasn't.
> 
> "One of these days my bank account is going to cease to exist if I continue buying all of this stuff to help me find a way out of my deal and am not replenishing it. That buyer paid 300,000 for it. You said you didn't need it. I needed the money, what's wrong with that?"
> 
> Marcus shook his head. "Nothin' darling. Just be careful with that kinda stuff, people like that aren't trustworthy. Hell, most other hunters you meet ain't trustworthy."
> 
> She nodded in agreement.
> 
> "You look tired." He told her.
> 
> "I am. I am tired of not finding her. I'm down to five years left. It needs done, now."
> 
> "Don't show your desperation Bela. It'll only get you into trouble. We'll find her, you still have time."
> 
> She sighed. "Really, because it's already been five years and that came fast. The next will too."
> 
> "I know, but she's a crossroads demon, she'll rear her ugly head soon enough, I promise. But you need more time."
> 
> So Marcus continued helping her, neither of them knowing in only a short month Bela would be left alone. 
> 
> * * *
> 
> **One Month Later**
> 
> Bela had been on her own for a week when she came back to Marcus' apartment and found him dead. It was by far the worst death she'd seen. Bela wasn't sure what to do or who to call for him. She finally decided on a cover story and was about to call it in when she saw Lilith standing there. She didn't know it was her, with Lilith being in another body.
> 
> "Hi Abby. Remember me?"
> 
> Bela placed her hand on her gun. She knew it wouldn't do a damn thing, but she figured if she shot her enough times she'd have enough time to start an exorcism and convince the demonic bitch to give her life back.
> 
> "Part of the deal is that I can't hurt you until your time is up. However, if you do keep trying to get out of it, I can do whatever I want to you." Lilith stated.
> 
> "Why him? He didn't do anything."
> 
> Lilith nodded in agreement. "No, he didn't. You did. No weasling your way out of this honey. You made the deal. Consider this a warning. Quit messing around with your deal, or next time it will be you."
> 
> Lilith disappeared. The young hunter closed her eyes tightly before opening them again. She made her way to Marcus and swiped her hand over his eyes to close them. She'd done this, she'd gotten him killed. He'd been helping her and this was what he got in return?
> 
> Bela had a choice...she could leave all this hunting behind and enjoy five years of her life doing whatever she wanted, or she could keep fighting to get free. What she did know was that if she continued this fight, she was doing it alone. There was no sense for anyone to die for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will try to get next several chapters quickly so that it's up to date with what's on FF:)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changed Flagstaff, you'll see:)

**Early 2005**

**Flagstaff, Arizona.**

Bela had been on her own for two years now, each hunt she'd gained experience and gotten better. However there were times, like now, her experience in the field was lacking just a bit. Maybe it was because Marcus was so good, training under him might have made her a bit over-confident. That wasn't necessarily bad since the quiet scared girl had disappeared and was replaced by someone she always knew was underneath all of that, the sassy confident woman. Only with the baggage and anger in there as well.

Bela truly wished all her hunts could be demon related or lead her to a way out of her deal, but she knew that wasn't going to be the case when she made the decision to continue hunting. She was doing this for herself, for Marcus, and in many cases for the little girls who'd lost their innocence. Honestly she'd rather do something else, at least someday. If she got out of this deal that's exactly what she'd do. Get out of hunting and go live her own life.

Other than Marcus she'd never worked with anyone else and she preferred it that way. She didn't trust men in the first place, but for some reason Marcus had felt safe enough and he was the only one who knew bits and pieces of her past and he never snuck up on her or touched her without her consent, even if it was just to show her how to hold the gun. And with that she'd gotten better with time. And after he died, she tried to keep that feeling of control he'd given her.

She didn't sleep around really, but finally after a hard case she'd gotten over herself and had a bit of fun. Bela was a pretty good judge of who she could be in control with. In order to do that she kept her old self protected behind a wall of this new tough woman. 

This case was proving to be more difficult than the young hunter first assessed. So now she was stuck in this house with a vengeful spirit, whose body she thought was down in the basement. Bela had searched it though and came up empty. Then the spirit came after her and she'd managed to fend it off and lock it out as she stayed in the study of the house, lining all the entrances to the room with salt.

 _Damn_. She thought as the spirit managed to decrease the temperature of the room and blow out the windows and move the salt. She went to shoot the thing with the rock salt again but it was empty now.  _Great...who needs a deal when I'm going to die because of some ridiculous ghost._

Bela wasn't ready to die though, and she sure as hell wasn't going before her time. The spirit got closer and like his other victims he started making things fly towards her. Suddenly the ghost stopped and flamed out. She looked up at it, confused.

She stood back up slowly & walked towards the door of the home, and then saw a man approaching her.

"Uh..." Bela stuttered.

"I'm assuming you're a hunter considering the weaponry you got there. You're welcome." The older, gruff looking man said.

"I...how did you...?"she questioned, confused.

"I've been doing this a good long time. But easy answer, found the body."

"It wasn't in the basement was it?" She acknowledged.

"Nope. Back yard. Buried."

She sighed.

"Who are you?"

The older man sighed.

"Bobby Singer. Gonna assume you're name isn't really Nora Sinclair?"

She shook her head. That name definitely sounded familiar. Should she give him a name? He did save her...

"Bela."

"Uh huh."

"And may I ask how you knew what false name I was using in the first place?" she questioned.

"The Detective I talked to mentioned a reporter asking questions with that name. You're not from here obviously." Bobby said, noting her accent change once she introduced herself. "But I'm gonna give you a bit of advice girl...you seem plenty capable but either get your head all the way in the game or not at all."

She rolled her eyes, she couldn't help it. Older men were always going to treat her young.

"Got it, thanks very much. I'll be going now."

"Yeah you do that."

Bela picked up the necklace on the ground that she'd lost in the fight. It was just a simple chain with a small diamond pendant. It'd belonged to her mother, and she never forgot it. Bobby noticed as he followed her out. Everyone hunted for a reason, but a girl like that? That was something to make him question what could possibly make her into a hunter. Looking at her she could be whatever she wanted.

Bela got to her car and answered her phone.

Bobby passed by heading for his.

"Yes? Okay, I know...it's a lot, but I'll get you the money. Just give me a few more days. Uh huh...you've been patient but I'm just asking for a couple of days. 2 days? Fine." Bela sighed heavily. 

Bobby looked from his car over to her. He walked up to the woman who acted well beyond her age.

"You're not in over your head or something are you?"

"No, it's fine. I'm fine."

She made a move to get into her car.

"Funny, don't sound like it."

She shook her head at the old man. He just didn't quit did he? Stubborn hunters.

"I..." Oh what the hell. This certainly wasn't the biggest secret she was carrying. "I needed a few items...made a trade but still owe the guy ten grand. I have the money, in a my safe back home...just got distracted with this hunt. It's really no big deal."

Bobby nodded. Though he still thought she was in way over her head with all of this.

He threw her a necklace.

"What's this?" she asked.

"I dunno, some old talisman the spirit had in the basement with him. Not of any use to anyone now. See what you can get while you're in town and you might just be able to send him what you owe without having to make the trip all the way to...let me guess, England?"

She gave him a strange look.

"Uh...New York actually. I mean, England was right, just not anymore."

"Uh huh. Look do yourself a favor, watch who you're dealing with."

"Don't worry, I can handle myself fine. Not that I don't appreciate the assist, but I've learned how to deal with these people."

He shook his head, but nodded at her. He walked away and got into his old car, then drove away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The meeting of Dean & Bela.....

**2** **years** **later. 2007.**

**Queens, NY.**

Bela walked into her loft and threw her jacket on the leather sofa, then walked to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. She'd been gone for two weeks now, and was ready to shower off the grime she was sure coated every inch of her body. The hunts she took got more and more difficult each year as she allowed herself to take the more challenging cases the better she got. And she'd gotten rather good. She couldn't help but still buy and sell things on the side, it'd gotten her a nice home and the stylish clothing she loved. Granted, she dressed practical for her hunts. It'd also helped her procure anything she may need to hunt anything she'd come up against. Now if only she could find a way to stop Lilith without Lilith finding out, or at least find a way out of her deal. She hadn't gotten much closer in the last two years.

As soon as she sat down on the bar stool her phone rang.

Seriously? Not a moment to herself?

"Hello". She answered, accent thick.

"Miss Greene? I have a request for you."

"Ah, Lukas. I'm sorry, I can't help you. I just got back to the city, and I've not had any time to trade anything valuable. Maybe next time."

"Oh come on, I already know what it is I want. I'll give you 1.5 million...half of what it's worth. Enough to keep you in any sort of business, or hell possible retirement for the rest of your life."

She wanted to laugh, at the rate things were going that was just short of a year. She decided to humor the man though, he was known to be dangerous and she wasn't in the mood to piss a good client off. She'd dealt with him once. He had no understanding of what really went on with all of the stuff he was finding, but she doubted he'd actually care. She'd already turned him down when he asked for some artifact last month that she ended up having to use in one of her hunts.

"Okay I'll bite. What is it?"

"A rabbit's foot."

She did laugh out loud this time.

"I'm sorry? Don't they sell those all over the place?"

He sighed, annoyed. "No, this one is real. It bring's luck. I've read all about it."

"Uh huh. And where, pray tell, might I find it?"

"Well, I was talking with this lady...she said she was gifted...I don't know. She told me it was in some sort of storage unit. I'm halfway across the world from you at the moment and will be heading into New York in a few days. If I give you the coordinates, could you find it for me?"

"Look normally I find things that are easily attainable. You know, auction houses and such. You want me to actually go find this thing in someone else's storage shed. That's not exactly what I do."

She left out the part where most of the things she found was because of a hunt she'd been on at the time.

"Well it can be now. Come on, it's not like you're some good girl right or you wouldn't be into all this. Just get me what I need."

Bela knew she had to be a what this man was asking of her sometimes. Hunting certainly wasn't legal, and lying and stealing things went along with it. But she wasn't a thief, well at least not just a thief.

"Lukas, I'm not just some cat burglar you know. I have limitations."

"Then test those limitations. Just this once. I have all kinds of connections, never know when you might need them."

She sighed. Just this once? Yeah right, if she did this he was going to just keep asking for more, and she didn't have time for these side jobs.

"Fine. I'll take care of it...my way though. I'll call you in a day or so once I have it."

Bela hung up. Did the thing really have some much good luck for it's owner to make Lukas this crazy for it though? She had a momentary thought on if she should just keep it for herself and have a little luck on her side to get out of her deal. Could something like that really work?

No, she was not going to go get the damn foot out of storage. She'd met some not so nice men a few weeks ago. However, they could prove to be useful now considering they weren't exactly that smart.

She picked her phone back up and made the call.  Then she did some research of her own.

**2 Days Later:**

"I'm sorry? You what?" she questioned, frustrated.

"Look don't be mad, but these two guys barged in here and took it."

"Great. Just great. Do yourself a favor, don't call me for any help ever again, because I certainly will not be calling you two idiots."

Bela shook her head. What had she been thinking? Lukas was going to kill her. She was torn between telling Lukas too bad,or going and getting the foot back.

**Black Rock, NY**

She arrived in Black Rock after tracking down the two unknown men that had stolen the rabbit's foot. It didn't take her long at all to track down the surge of luck, taking her straight to them. She spoke to the restaurant owner, posing as a waitress.

The hunter-slash-thief needed to at least know who she'd be dealing with. God she hated this, she had a demon hunt in Maine she'd wanted to go take care of. Here she was chasing some valuable item just to stay on the good side of an occult favoring dirty businessman.

Bela went to the back and pulled her laptop out. She was about to run the names, though obviously fake, through a search to see what she could find. She noticed the storage unit information Lukas had given her. Wait...that name, why the hell hadn't she noticed it before? John Winchester. She'd heard that name through the grapevine of hunters. John Winchester was a hunter. Rumors now said he was a dead one. Granted, those were just rumors.

Oh bloody hell. Did she just hire two thieves to steal from a hunter? That was like rule one of hunting...not to mess with other hunters or their belongings. At all. Or well, it should be a rule.

Bela put her laptop back into her bag and headed back to the bar area of the restaraunt. She peeked around the corner to where the manager had pointed to the boys that won the 100th customer gift certificate. Then Bela Talbot suddenly did a double take when she saw one of the men. Winchester...didn't she know that name? And it wasn't a John. Her mind flashed back to a few years ago.

**_June 2005_ **

_Bela Talbot walked out of the precinct with the information she'd needed. She nodded with a smile toward a middle aged man in a suite that looked her way and headed out the door. Before getting to her car she lightly bumped into someone. She quickly hid her notes on the case, just in case._

"Whoa, sorry." The young man said.

_She looked up at him._

_"Yeah..I mean sorry, that was me." Bela opted for politeness, usually it was fake, but it worked. She was hoping it would make him nod and let her go get in her car and finish the case._

_Not quite._

_"I doubt that. You know you don't look like someone who should be coming out of a police station...unless you work here?" he questioned, curious but also noticeably flirting._

_Really, this guy was going to try to pick her up? Idiot. Okay, a very good looking idiot. He looked about 4 or 5 years older than her, she'd guess he was around 25 or 26. She mentally smacked herself for looking. She was busy on a job, and she definitely wasn't looking for a hook up right now._

_"I don't. I'm a reporter, was just collecting some information." Bela said, trying to brush him off. She did her best to hide the accent. "Besides, considering where you're headed, you're one to talk."_

_"Ah." He smiled at her. "My partner's inside."_

_"You're the cop then? Wouldn't you know who works here?"_

_"I would...but uh,we're from a different precinct." he told her, covering quickly._

_"Right. Look, I do need to be going, sorry."_

_Bela had played her part well, and he didn't think it'd hurt to introduce himself with his real identity. He'd always preferred it when women knew his real name anyways._

_"I'm Dean Winchester. It was nice to meet you...?"_

_He was waiting for her._ _Bela knew she was on a job. No truth here._

_"Ellie. Nice to meet you Dean, but I really do have to go."_

_He nodded._

_"Sure. Sorry...again."_

_She nodded back But smiled a bit and headed to her car._

_Well then. He certainly wasn't used to that...she didn't even respond to his flirting? Damn_.

**Present**

That rabbit's foot may have been lucky, but she certainly wasn't having any chasing after it.

Bela had options. She could let Lukas get pissed at her and stop dealing with him, or she could go steal the damn thing back. Both options she didn't really like. She took a peek around the corner again to look at Dean Winchester, after all it'd been two years. Wow...still not disappointing to look at. The larger man across from him wasn't bad either. Maybe she should just go introduce...Oh yeah right. And say what? _Sorry, besides being a hunter I'm sorta this thief and I'm the one who stole(off handedly_ ) _that item out of your deceased relative's (li_ kely _father_ ) _storage unit? Sure, that would work well._

However, 1.5 million could do wonders for her getting things that might help her track down and kill Lilith. And really, what would it hurt? They're hunters, hunters are usually in for life, how badly did they really need some money making rabbits foot, at least compared to her?

Okay, decision made. Now as long as he didn't recognize her she'd be okay.

She tugged the wig she was wearing firmly in place and sauntered over to their table. Here's goes nothing. Bela could read people pretty well. While Dean was quite the flirt, she was sure the younger one was a little more shy. And probably more responsible...meaning he was probably the one holding onto the thing.

"Can I freshen you up?" she asked.

Dean looked up at her. Uh oh...did he know?

Then he just gave her a flirtatious smile.

Ok she was good.

Bela turned to Sam again, and went ahead with her plan. She spilled the coffee, then pretended to help him wipe it up while she swiped the foot from his pocket. Well...if she wasn't a hunter she knew at least she could make a great thief. Granted, if she wasn't a hunter and didn't have deal coming due she certainly wouldn't be a thief anyways.

"Sorry again." She smiled, charmingly.

She grabbed the coffee pot and headed towards the back of the restaurant. Bela then picked up her bag and walked out of the restaurant, taking off her wig and throwing it in a nearby dumpster.

**Biggerson's**

Sam gave Dean a look.

"What?"

"Dude, what is wrong with you? She was so flirting with you, and she was hot." Dean told his brother.

Sam rolled his eyes. He made a move to grab his coffee and it spilled again.

"What the hell?" Dean questioned.

"Ow, God!" Sam stood quickly and then knocked into another waitress.

"That ain't good."

Sam looked panicked. He quickly checked his pocket, and revealed that he didn't have the foot.

"Shit. That Bitch!" Dean muttered angrily.

Dean stood fast and made his way out of the diner, Sam following.

 **A Bit Later**.

"Bobby, listen this, uh, this hot chick stole it from him. I'm serious. I'd say mid 20's, and she was sharp you know, good enough to play us. And she only gave the guy she hired a name, probably an alias or something. Uh, Lugosi sound right? First name he thought was Noel, no..Nora, or something that sounded like that."

"Huh...Lugosi? Uh...Lug...Wait Nora...it's probably Bela. Hmm."

Bobby hadn't paid much attention to where the young hunter had went or what she'd been doing after he left her in Arizona. However, he thought he'd heard that she was still around hunting and sometimes still trading things. He'd paid attention to a few of her aliases before. She rarely used the same first name twice, but he'd come across patterns of names she might choose.

"Bela Lugosi? That's cute."

"Bela Talbot's her real name, I think."

"Is she a hunter?"

"I think so...honestly I'm not really sure exactly what she is. She was hunting when I ran into her a couple years ago, but the way things sounded it seemed she mighta been dabbling in some sorta supernatural black market trading of some kind.

"Great."

"Look, if it is her, I probably know a few folks that know where she might be."

"Why would she steal the foot to begin with if she is a hunter? I mean, the thing's killing people."

"I don't know, my guess is she's needing money, or she's needing luck. She was a rookie at the job back then, and I worried she'd be getting in over her head. Maybe she did."

"Okay, well let me know when you find her."

Dean hung up.

He then drove Sam to a motel. Dean's phone rang again and it was Bobby.

"Okay, so Bobby's pretty sure she lives in Queens, and gave me the address. I'm gonna go check her out and you stay put."

"What, really?" Sam asked, a little bit whining.

"Dude you can't go, you'll get us both killed, or at least yourself. You're staying here, I'll be back. Do not even move."

**Queens. Bela's Loft.**

Bela headed down the stairs from her room toward the kitchen. She intended to make a cup of coffee, but Lukas was driving her insane.

"Look, I get it. I know, it took a bit longer but I have it so stop being so impatient. No...I'm aware of your reputation Luke...you don't scare me. I told you this wasn't my sort of thing, but I did it anyway so you're going to have to deal with it if you want the foot...Good. I'll meet you there in an hour."

Bela turned to the cabinet but noticed something on the security camera...a man briefly moved past the camera.

Great. Should have seen that one coming.

Bela grabbed a gun from the wine cabinet and made her way to the door. She certainly wasn't meeting who she assumed was Dean Winchester without a gun in hand.

The door was ajar. As Bela approached it, she noticed a beeping noise. The alarm system panel is flashing 'error'. She then sees a yellow Post-It stuck to the panel that reads "turn around". Dean appeared behind her, his gun drawn. Bela turned and drew her gun.

Dean smirked.

"You left without your tip."

Bela smirked back, then sighed.

Dean walked backwards through the hall, gun drawn still. Bela followed.

"Wait...hold up. You look familiar. I've seen you before haven't I?"

"I doubt that." She said dismissively. 

"No..no I remember. Not entirely sure where..."

Bela relented.

"Fine. Illinois, police station. A couple years ago." she told him.

Dean looked up at her.

"You were...wait you were that reporter chick." he stated.

She nodded.

"You were the one, the other hunter working that case me and my dad were on."

"Obviously."

"Huh."

Dean shook his head.

"Look, you're gonna give the foot back."

"No, I'm not." she answered back, smirking.

"Why the hell not? So what, you've decided to become a thief now instead?"

"No, but I have someone wanting it very badly, and are in no way going to let it go. So sorry, but you're little lucky streak is over."

"Whatever...Bela right?"

"That's right Dean."

"Ah, you remember."

She shrugged.

"Not really" she lied. "You're not the only one who's done the homework."

"Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"I told you. He called, I'm holding up my end. It's a lot of money, and I could use it."

Dean looked around.

"Really? You're living like this and you need more?"

"As a hunter, you think it's going to last if I don't? No one pays us for the job Dean, well not usually. Girl's gotta make a living right?"

Dean shook his head.

"Not like this. Not by hurting other people."

"Relax I'm not hurting anyone." she told him. "It was in a bloody storage unit, why do you need it?"

"Oh really? Here's the deal, my brother touched the foot."

"Yeah, I know, and he got a few days of luck. Don't tell me you two are wanting it for yourselves. I mean I get it, I'm sure having all that luck on your side would have made you even better hunters right? Again, why do you need it?"

"No..because if you lose it...your luck goes south."

She gave him a confused look.

She really didn't know?

"Yeah...as in bad bad luck. Those dumbasses you hired...they're dead. Died right after we stole the foot back."

"What?"

"Yeah, as in freak accidents."

She sighed.

"Oh."

Bela wasn't the sentimental type anymore...so she certainly wasn't going to shed a tear for those low lifes...but she also didn't want to kill anyone. That was the whole point...doing what Marcus taught her, and part of that was making sure no one died from supernatural crap.

"So, I need the foot back...so we can destroy it. It's the only way to make sure my brother goes back to normal. Don't tell me you're only out for yourself, 'cause that's just not how this hunting thing goes."

"Oh please. All of us are morons. Revenge driven sociopaths trying to save a world that can't be saved, so don't give me some morality speech Dean. I don't need it. Of course I'm out for myself, because the only person I have is me."

"Wow, you're a glass half full aren't you." Dean says, rolling his eyes.

"We're all going to hell Dean. What's the point? Being a better person, caring a little bit more...that's not going to change the facts."

"I happen to agree with you there. Look, this has been charming and all but..."

Dean raises his hand, holding up the rabbit's foot.

"How did you...?"

"Hey you're not the only one with sticky fingers."

Bela sighed loudly, giving up.

"Fine...but you realize you're gonna leave me out 1.5 million and on the bad side of a very psychotic buyer don't you?"

"You realize I don't really feel bad about that?"

She rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure you can handle yourself can't you?" Dean asked.

"You better hope so. Because if he kills me, I will come back from the dead and kill you myself."

"Noted."

"Go, before I change my mind and shoot you." she said, annoyed.

Dean turned and walked down the hall and out the door.

"See ya."

He closed it behind him.

"Let's hope not." Bela whispered.

Ugh. What a day!

 **Cemetery. Night**.

Later, Sam and Dean burned the foot.

"Seriously, I can't believe you got it back that easy."

"Wow, you doubted my skills?"

Sam shook his head at Dean's ridiculously cocky attitude.

"You see her?" Sam asked.

"Well yeah."

"Wait, she let you off that easy?"

"She's a hunter, mostly, and I don't think she knew it was killing everyone who lost it. She certainly wasn't happy about me taking it back, but she didn't stop me."

"Well thats...good I guess."

Dean nodded.

"We'd met before. Couple years ago, before Dad disappeared." Dean told him.

"Really? While I was at school?"

"Yup. Working a job. Granted, I didn't know she was working a job."

"That's weird."

"I know. Alright, let's get outta here."

Dean grabbed his jacket and headed for the impala. Sam behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you're probably thinking well if Bela didn't exactly know the foot was killing people in this version, then why didn't she touch it & get affected when dean took it back? Here's my answer: Just go with it! LOL Lets all agree she still used a napkin to steal it & she never touched it even though she didn't use tongs. K? thanks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out the chapters will flip between following canon episodes & my own storylines. Hope you enjoy!

**Queens. Bela's Loft.**

Bela flipped through some files on a couple of options for cases. Again, no demons. She was disappointed but was trying to make a decision on the 2 cases left in font of her.

Illinois, or go to the east coast? She typed in a few things into her laptop. Okay, there was a great little antique bookstore in the Massachusetts town that had some good books on demons and Hell. She could take the hunt there, two birds and what not.

 **Massachusetts**. **2** **Days Later.**

An elderly woman walked to her door and opened it. She was holding a kleenex in her hand, obviously upset. She looked to the young woman at her door.

"Hi, Ms. Case? I'm Alex Holden, I'm an investigator, and thought I could help with your niece's case? Do you have time to talk right now?" Bela asked, dropping the British accent.

"Oh...the cops acted uninterested. They're sure she drowned."

"Maybe...but I can see your doubts and I have my own. Can I come in?"

"Yes Dear...please."

**1 Days Later. Docks.**

"What a crazy old broad." Dean Winchester commented

"Why? Because she believes in ghosts? Look at us." Sam replied.

"Uh huh."

"So, who's this Alex? We got another player in town?" Dean asked.

"Another hunter? Maybe. Doesn't change our job."

"A ghost ship, huh?"

"It's not the first one sighted around here, either."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Every 37 years, like clockwork, reports of a vanishing three-mast clipper ship out in the bay. And every 37 years, a rash of weirdo, dry-land drownings."

"So, whatever's happening is just getting started."

"Yeah."

"What's the lore?"

Sam told Dean a little bit of ghost ship history.

"So, you see the ship and then a few hours later, you pucker up and kiss your ass goodbye?" Dean questioned.

"Basically."

"What's the next step?"

"We gotta I.D. the boat."

"That shouldn't be too hard. I mean, how many three-mast clipper ships have wrecked off the coast?"

"I checked that too, actually. Over 150."

"Crap." Dean sighed.

"Yeah.."

Dean and Sam headed for the Impala. Dean noticed something on the window.

"Dude...what the hell?"

"What?" Sam asked, confused.

Dean held up a white piece of paper, a parking ticket for $200.

"Dude, you fed the meter?"

"I swear I did."

"It's not good manners to swear you know." Said a female voice.

Both boys looked up quickly.

"67 Chevy Impala, knew that was yours."

"Bela? What are you doing here? And how'd you know?"

"That's Bela?" Sam questioned.

Dean just gave him a shrug.

"Oh relax. The ticket is fake...well, it wasn't for someone else but they're done with it. Thought I'd give you a minor heart attack after the whole mess with the rabbit's foot. As for how I knew, I remember seeing the car outside the police station, after you bumped into me."

"I remember it as you bumping into me." Dean retorted.

Bela shrugged.

"You didn't answer me."

"Why do you think I'm here?" she asked, looking at him like he was a complete idiot.

"You're Alex" Sam stated.

She grinned.

"Well, we're here now, you can go find another job." Dean smirked back.

"Hardly. With a chance at sounding like a petulant child, I was here first."

"So you talked with Gert?"

"I did."

"Gonna guess you put the idea of a ghost ship in her head."

"She needed to know. And I needed her to be honest with me about everything. By the way, she called me. Thanks for telling her the case wasn't solved by the way."

"It isn't."

"She didn't need to know that. I told her that so she'd stop asking questions all the time and stay out of my way. I have full intentions of following through and finishing the case."

"She said she paid for you to investigate. A PI? Really?"

"What, I'm doing the job. What's wrong with making a little money from it?"

Dean shrugged.

"Um, cause it's wrong?" Sam suggested.

"How? We both hunt, and I have a few things I need to get in order to do this job. So I get paid."

"Wow." Sam shook his head.

"Woman's got a point?" Dean commented.

"Sure Dean. We'd never do that."

"Well I'm not you. I do what needs to be done sometimes. I don't need your approval."

Bela turned to Dean.

"Cute, but a bit of a drama queen yeah?" She said about Sam.

Dean just smirked.

"As to our first argument...this is my case." Bela told them. "Stay out of my way, don't need you causing any more trouble for me." Then she smirked.

Bela said goodbye and then walked away.


	6. Chapter 6

 

**An hour Later. Street outside home of victim.**

Bela was standing next to a man, asking him questions about the latest victim.

"No, police say he drowned. I just don't get how..." the victim's brother started, stumbling on the words.

"Sorry, take your time. Can you tell me more about the ship your brother saw?" Bela asked.

Without warning Dean and Sam walked up to them. Dean holding out a 'badge'.

 _Great_. Bela thought.

It seemed these two sets of hunters we're going to be competing for this case instead of helping each other. Dean couldn't help himself, he grinned at Bela and she noticed it before he put on a stern face for the man.

"Mam, this man's been through enough don't you think?" Dean asked.

Bela shot him a glare, but smiled at the victim's brother.

"I just have a few more questions." She told Dean.

"No you don't, not right now, sorry." Sam said.

Dean looked so cocky. Bela felt the need to wipe the smug look right off.

But Bela nodded instead, having to go along with it. She wasn't amused...or was she? The brothers, mostly Dean, wanted to play did they? Game on!

"Right. Thanks for your time." she told the man and walked away.

Bela walked away, then she made her way over to where two police officers stood by their car as Dean and Sam talked to the witness.

"Hi, officer?"

"Yeah?" The older one asked.

"Those agents over there, well something seemed a bit off. Just thought maybe you should check them out and verify their identities."

The officer looked to where Bela pointed. Bela turned her head towards the Winchesters. Dean saw her, she smirked. Bela knew she no longer was needed here and left. Dean nudged Sam with his shoulder and they quickly made their way from the scene before the real cop came over.

**A few minutes later. Just a block from the crime scene.**

"You're still here?" Bela asked, smirking lightly.

"You gonna stand right there as I'm loading my gun?" Dean questioned, hinting that he'd "accidentally" shoot her.

"You know, you interrupted my interview." She pointed out.

"And you tried to turn us in." Sam said. "Guess we're even."

"Hey, you two started this. I was just playing the game."

"It's not a game." Sam said.

Dean just shrugged. She rolled her eyes.

"Great, well why are you still hanging around here? You got enough to ID the ship, didn't you?"

"The brother's not the only one who saw the ship." Sam told her.

"This guy did too." Dean finished.

"So?"

"So, he's gonna be next."

"Right. You think you can stop it? Without knowing the background info on the ship, or the ghost, whatever?"

"We have to try."

"Dean, he's cannon fodder. You can't save him in time."

"Well, we're trying."

"Fine, do whatever you have to do, I'm not going to waste time here, I'm going to find the ship or whatever is needed to stop all of this. I'd think saving future lives is better than someone already condemned to death."

"Wow, again with the negativity. What's your problem huh? Daddy not give you enough hugs or something?"

Bela's face froze for a half second, before she composed herself.

"I don't know, yours give you enough? Don't pretend you're so much better than I am."

"We're helping someone."

"So am I. Someone who's not been marked yet." She replied.

Bela hated saying that...considering she herself was marked for death with her deal. But it was becoming harder and harder to believe she'd get free. Sometimes that made her more negative about saving people.

"Well then you can go. We've got this." Sam said.

Bela shook her head, then turned and left.

* * *

**Next Morning. Abandoned house.**

Dean was sitting at the desk and Sam was in a chair reading when there was a knock at the door. He grabbed his gun and walked to the door slowly. After checking through the hole, he opened it, sighing dramatically when he saw Bela.

"What do you want?" Dean asked her.

"Wow...squatting huh?"

Dean rolled his eyes.

"So...you want to fill me in on how it went last night?"

"I swear if you say 'I told you so' I'm gonna hit you, woman or not."

"Well I'm not. I never said I didn't care."

"Right." Sam commented.

"I think the three of us should have a heart to heart."

"Assuming you have one."

"Really? You don't even know me."

Dean shrugged.

"Not all hunters give a shit. It doesn't come as a surprise to me." Dean said.

"I'm on the fence." She told him.

"So, what is it you want?" Sam asked.

"Well, I've ID'd the ship."

"And?"

"Here." Bela showed them the picture of the ship. "Sailor was accused of treason, they tried him through a kangaroo court and he was hanged."

"Says here he was 37." Dean commented.

"Explains the 37 year cycle." Sam stated.

"Aren't you a smart one." Bela commented.

She handed the boys another photo.

"Wait, that's the ghost we saw last night. So the ship's not the ghost, just a symbol he's attached to."

"Wait, you saw him?" she questioned.

"Yeah. Except uh...he was missing a hand." Dean replied.

"His right hand?" Bela asked.

"Yup."

"Thought so." Bela pulled out more paper from her files. "Here. He was cremated, except they cut off his right hand to make a Hand of Glory."

"A Hand of what?"

"Supposedly that's a serious occult item, powerful." Sam told them.

"Supposedly." Bela agreed.

"Well, that officially counts as remains." Dean said.

"Right. So where is it?"

"It's always this town. So the Hand has to be here somewhere." Bela stated.

Sam nodded and opened his laptop.

"Huh."

"What?" Dean asked.

Bela looked over at Sam's screen.

"SeaPines Museum. That's quite a bit of Maritime History there."

"Looks like there's a benefit party there tonight." Sam said.

"We gonna crash it?"

"Hmm." Bela sighed.

"What?"

"I have an easier idea. I'll be right back."

Bela stepped outside to make a phone call, then came back into the house a few moments later.

She gave them a smirk.

"What?" Dean questioned again.

"We've got an in."

"Why do I have a feeling I'm going to regret letting you in that door?" Dean sighed, worrying slightly about whatever she was planning.

*Okay, more soon i promise. Either tomorrow or next day!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some changes to Red Sky At Morning. Still follows canon mostly, but I hope you enjoy the little differences...which i guess add up to making the whole episode quite a bit different.

**An hour later...**

**House. Night.**

Bela waited downstairs for Dean after she pushed Sam out the door to go pick up his date.

"Seriously what are you a woman?" Bela called up to Dean, who was still changing.

"I'm really not okay with this."

"Get over it. Sam's already half way there, with his date. Just come down already, we need to leave."

Dean finally made his way down the stairs, not very comfortable in what he was wearing...well mentally anyway.

Bela couldn't help but watch him. She was not expecting it for sure. She always kept her composure around men, but damn if he wasn't turning her on a little right now. Sure, he always looked good, and for a hunter especially. But now in that suit...wow.

"I look ridiculous." Dean stated, sighing.

"Not exactly the word I'd use."

"What?" he questioned.

She smiled.

"I uh..." she started.

"Huh. Is the ice queen melting?"

"Shut up. Here I was going to suggest after the case we have angry sex."

Dean's eyes got bigger. Did she just say that?

Bela smirked, but then laughed out loud.

"Not funny."

"Oh it was though. You should have seen your face."

"Let's Go!" Dean grumbled.

* * *

 

 **Museum. Night**.

Dean & Bela enter the museum, keeping an eye out for Sam.

Dean starts chewing his gum heavier, Bela gives him a look. He's supposed to be some billionaire? He wasn't going to full anyone with that behavior.

"Pss." she nudged him.

Dean gave her a confused look.

"Seriously, try to behave like you've lived this life before yeah?."

He gave her yet another look.

"The gum, Dean. Swallow it, or get rid of it will you. Or if neither are an option for you at least stop being so loud."

Dean rolled his eyes, and proceeded to stick the gum on the bottom of a fountain, then looked around to check no one but her saw, but he looked quite pleased with himself. It was Bela's turn to roll her eyes.

She grabbed his arm. "You're an idiot."

He just shrugged and they headed toward Sam.

"So, how long do you guys expect me to continue entertaining my 'date'?" Sam asked.

"As long as it takes." Bela told him. Dean smirked.

Sam sighed.

"Sam, this was the easiest plan, and well...much more entertaining for me." Dean said, grinning.

Sam took a large swig of his champagne & marched away toward Gert.

After talking to Sam, Dean and Bela somehow end up in the middle of all the dancing people, including Sam who'd gotten pulled out there by Gert. Dean was sure a couple of guards had been staring at him as he'd looked around the room. He nudged Bela in the arm.

"You know, I'm not sure how this is gonna work...because the guards look like pros, and they look suspicious already."

Bela sighed. She grabbed Dean's hand and got herself into frame in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing?" he whispered.

"Blending in. Keep up will you?"

"Blending...I don't dance." he gritted out.

"Yes well, pretend that you do. Just relax."

He sighed heavily. Bela took lead, not that she had a choice. However, she was doing a pretty damn good job of making it look like Dean was leading her. It's not like they had to do anything major besides stay in a small area and dance around in circles. Any other circumstance and Dean would have loved to take advantage of an extremely good-looking woman holding onto him.

"I figured you'd be more clumsy, but I think that title is saved for your brother." She told him, smiling.

"Well have you seen the size of him?"

They both laughed quietly. For someone who claimed not to dance, he seemed to know just how to hold her. Anyone on the outside would've thought they were a nice couple.

Bela leaned in closer to him.

"So, you're right about the professional guards. They're at every door too."

"Not gonna be able to waltz our way upstairs." Dean said. "Pun intended." He smirked.

"What do you suggest?" she asked.

Dean went quiet.

"Seriously? Mr. Legendary hunter doesn't have a plan?" she teased.

"I"m thinking!" he whisper yelled.

"Don't strain yourself."

He shot her a glare.

"Fine, than you come up with something." Dean said.

Bela and Dean had broke apart and Dean grabbed 2 glasses of wine off a tray a waiter passed by with. He handed one to Bela as they made their way into a hallway in the museum. They drank a few sips of the wine and the sat the glasses on a table. Once further away from the main room and right in front of a guard Bela suddenly falls limp into Dean's arms. Dean himself was surprised at her move but luckily caught her in time. He noticed one of the guards coming over. Okay, time to improvise then. He was pretty sure he was gonna give Bela hell for this later.

* * *

 

Dean laid Bela on the sofa, and then shut the door. Bela sat up slowly.

"Seriously?!" Dean yelled at her.

"What, I didn't want you thinking, you're not very good at that."

Dean went quiet.

"What, no witty rejoinder?"

Dean sighed. "Screw you."

"Very Oscar Wilde."

"Whatever. Where's the hand?"

"I'd assume it's in one of the rooms. My guess with a security alarm. You sure you can handle that?"

Dean mumbled under his breath, annoyed with her. He then made his way out the door.

* * *

 

Bela was waiting, rather impatiently, for Dean to get back when there was a knock on the door.

"Mam? Are you okay now?" asked the security officer.

 _Crap_. She thought.

He knocked again. Bela quickly figured out something and then opened the door part way revealing one of her sleeves of her dress to be down.

"You're feeling better I see?" he asked.

"Yes...much."

"Great, so are you done with the room now?"

"Oh..." Bela held her dress up tighter. "Um..could we have just a minute?"

The guard look embarrassed. "Uh...yeah, sure."

"Thanks." Bela said, then quickly shut the door. She went on to make noises to further her story. The guard turned and walked off.

A moment later Dean came in.

"Trouble?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle."

Dean notices Bela fixing her dress.

"I'm not even gonna ask." He commented.

Bela shrugged.

"You know I can hide that better in my purse."

"Nope. Not happening. I got it, and Sam and I are gonna burn it."

"You're still being competitive?"

"You bet."

Dean and Bela leave the room, but the guard comes past them, eyeing them closely. Bela pushes Dean into the nearest wall and kisses him, her hand on his jacket. She pulls away as the guard disappears.

"What the hell?"

"Dean, you are far too slow at the planning."

"Sure...You just wanted an excuse to kiss me."

"Oh please. Besides, it wasn't even that good." Bela lied.

"What? I've never had any compla..."

The two of them headed down the stairs.

"Hookers complain?" Bela quipped.

Dean gave her a look.

"Hey, I don't have to pay a hooker to get some."

"Mmmhhmm." 

Dean opened his mouth to defend himself, then thought better of it. Bela and Dean headed toward the dance floor arm in arm.

"You know, I didn't think I'd say this...but I sort of feel for your brother."

Bela nodded toward Sam and Gert. Dean nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, he's gonna pout about it for at least a couple of days."

Dean and Bela reached the odd couple.

"Having fun?" Bela asked. Sam shot her a nasty look and Dean grinned.

Bela grabs Gert and they leave. However, Bela was far from done with this case. Dean wanted to still play? Well, game was still on. Did he really think she was gonna let him finish the job first?

* * *

 

**Impala. Night.**

Dean and Sam get into impala. Dean grabs for the hand, but it's not there.

"What? Dean!"

"I had it...ugh that bitch."

"Seriously?" Sam whined.

Dean's phone rang.

"You!" Dean answered.

"You wanted to be competitive...so who's getting to the cemetery first? Granted, I have the hand so I'd say I'm going to be the winner."

"Ugh, I'm gonna kill you."

"Sure you are. Hey you still have a chance...granted as slow as you are I can't see that happening."

Dean hung up on her and started the car, heading straight to the cemetery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was not one of my favorite chapters to write, and I'm not sure Bela was totally in character in this one, and I've always been strict about keeping them in character despite my changes and character growth. However, since I actually wrote this long ago, I didn't feel like rewriting it. I did make some grammatical edits.


	8. Chapter 8

**Bela's Car. Night.**

Bela wondered to herself why the hell she was doing this. She should have just set fire to the Hand of Glory and gone on to another hunt. Why was she playing with these guys? She had no idea...for some reason she couldn't help it. Something about Dean brought out the feisty side in her. Sure, it had always been there but she always kept on a serious face and did her job.

**Impala. Night.**

"Dude, are you seriously letting her..." Sam started.

"Hey, I'm not letting her do anything. Let's go."

"Can't believe you're bothering. I mean, hey as long as she burns it do we care?"

"Yes, we care!" Dean shouted.

"Whatever." Sam huffed. "By the way, I think i figured it out."

"What?"

"The ghost...he's going after people who've spilled a relative's blood. Gert's niece Sheila, it was her cousin Tom who died in that car accident where she was driving. And Gert told me rumors about the Warren brothers, they killed their father for the inheritance. Doesn't matter if it's on purpose, or by accident. Ghost doesn't care. His own brother is the one who had him hanged."

"Interesting...don't really matter now does it?"

"No, guess not."

* * *

 

**Cemetery. Night.**

Bela pulled her small sport car up to the curve and grabbed the hand from her bag. She could just go right in and burn it already, but she at least was going to wait until the boys got there. Part of it maybe was to let them know they were too slow, but part of her just wanted them to see that she was good at the job. Hunting was one type of work where as a woman she still struggled, especially since compared to other hunters she was a rookie.

However, Bela didn't realize that something was going to mess this up for her. As she looked up at the sound of thunder she saw a glimpse of the ship that all the other victims had seen so far. It surprised her. So, she was next? Could she still get the damn hand into the cemetery before the ghost came after her?

Bela could hear the rumbling of the impala. She was debating with herself to run into the cemetery quickly or throw in the towel and give the hand to the boys so she could run and hide.

She decided to head toward the two hunters, Dean seems surprised to see her heading toward them instead of going on into the cemetery.

"Where is it?" Dean asked, noticing the look.

She threw it at his chest.

"Here."

"Okay? What's up with you?"

"I uh...nothing. Just burn the thing. Something came up."

"Seriously no pun intended but you look like you've seen a...well you know." Sam said.

"I saw the ship."

"I'm sorry?" Dean asked. She what? Sam just told him the motive. "You what? Wow..."

"What?"

"Look I get your not the most caring person in the world, but this, I didn't expect."

"What the hell are you going on about?" she asked. "We don't have time for this...can't you just take care of it?"

Sam tells Bela the motive.

"So, who'd you kill?" Dean asked. Now becoming angry with the female hunter. "Daddy? A little sister maybe? What?"

"I...just stop. Burn the damn thing."

"Give me a reason we shouldn't wait?"

"What? You can't just let me die."

"Why not? "

"Dean." Sam warned.

"Fine. But what'd you do Bela?"

"You wouldn't understand. No one did."

Dean played all kinds of scenarios out in his head. Was he over reacting? She was a hunter, did she do it to kill a demon like Bobby had?

"Whatever i did, does it really warrant a death sentence? Please."

"Fine, Sam take the hand. Let's go."

Dean ushered Sam into the cemetery. He grabbed Bela by the arm.

"Hey I handed it to you so I could..."

"What, go hide in your car? We have guns, so you're better off here."

Sam put it on the ground and was about to grab a match. Rain started coming down hard and suddenly Bela yells at Dean. Dean looked at her and sees her eyes widen.

"Behind you."

Her words weren't fast enough. Dean is thrown against a headstone and the ghost goes after Bela.  As he puts a hand up towards her neck, she begins choking on water. Dean shoots the ghost with the rock salt as Sam tries to get the match to light in the downpour.

Dean grabbed Bela and held on trying to steady her but she falls to her knees, water seeming to be going in all directions and through her open mouth. Sam finally gets a match to light and sets fire to the hand as the ghost came back in front of Bela and Dean. The ghost finally disappears as the hand is disappearing in the flames, and the rain stops.

Sam looked to Dean and Bela, huddled on the ground. Bela opens her eyes, breathing heavily.

"Well...guess it's over." Dean said. He released Bela and got to his feet, then helped her up.  She was out of breath and shaking, but tried to put herself together as quickly as possible.

* * *

**House. Morning.**

Dean hears the door open and close and looks up to see Bela coming in. He continues to throw things in his bag.

"Where's Sam?"

"Upstairs. So, is this a goodbye or a thanks?" Dean asked.

"I don't typically say thank you." She said, a bit sarcastic but also a bit truthful.

"You're so damaged."

"Takes one to know one."

Dean grinned, but it faded.

"So...you going to tell me the truth?"

"No."

"Thought not." Dean sighed.

"It's complicated."

"Things always are."

"I've told one person since it happened. And they're dead now."

"So you're not telling me because what, I'm gonna die because of this secret?"

"Well no, not the only reason. I don't trust people Dean. You should know that as well as I do. Dean, I take care of myself. I"m not going to sit down and share. Besides, if I told you who got killed and why then I'd have to go further into the story, full of things I don't ever want to talk about again. So sorry about the curiosity, I'm sure it is eating away at you, but I just can't."

Dean nodded.

"Ok then."

"Well, it's been fun." she said, pulling her purse further up onto her shoulder in preparation to leave.

"Guess so. So, what about that offer?" Dean said.

Bela laughed a little.

"Not happening. Besides, you just want to add me to your long line of conquests. I remember how you tried the first time we met." She said, smirking.

"That's too bad. Would've been good." he told her.

She stepped closer to him and leaned in. "You have no idea" she whispered. She pulled back and smirked. Bela then turned and strutted out of the house leaving Dean to stand there shaking his head.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter. Very short. Sorry :)

_**About a week after last chapter.** _

**Bela's Loft.**

Bela had been tossing in her sleep, which was nothing new to her. Nightmares had become frequent with her ever since her mother's death and even more so after that once her father turned the abuse towards Bela.  

Sometimes, like tonight, they would start off as dreams of the rare good memories Bela had.

_6-year-old Abby turned over in her bed and looked up at the door, then smiled._

_"Hey little one, you're supposed to be asleep." said to her mother._

_"Huh uh." Abby shook her head. "I waiting on you mother."_

_"Oh you were?" Isobel smiled. "I guess I shall help you fall asleep then. What would you like me to do?"_

_"Read. You didn't finish the story last night. Daddy came home and you had to go."_

_"Alright, let's finish then."_

_Isobel sat down on the bed and Abby scooted closer._

Unfortunately those good memories in her dreams would quickly turn into nightmares. As a child they would revolve around her father and his part in her mother's death, along with Bela never being able to stop him from hurting her mother or from hurting her. Now as an adult, her nightmares leaned towards her father, her deal and demons. Last week her nightmare had to do with Lilith killing Marcus, except unlike in reality Bela had been forced to watch. Then it ended with Lilith killing Bela. She'd found it horrifying as she didn't just wake up right before she died, she actually had to watch her death.

Tonight was different. She had bolted up so quickly, partially scared but mostly confused with the latest one. Because it wasn't Marcus that Lilith had killed. No, it had been Dean bloody Winchester. She didn't understand why he was a part of it. She guessed it was because he was the last guy, and hunter, that she'd seen. If anything, it cemented her thoughts that she definitely wasn't telling anyone about her deal again. She wasn't going to have anyone else's blood on her hands.

* * *

 

**Impala. Day.**

Sam let out a frustrated sigh. Dean shot him a look.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Nothing."

"Really? Then why are you gettin' all huffy over there."

"I'm not."

Dean shrugged. "Hey, we're headed to a good old-fashioned vampire hunt."

"Haven't we been doing that lately, the basics? What's so great about it?"

"And what should we be doing? More demons? Dude, I'm not stupid. I know you research when you think I'm not looking. I told you to stop...what's done is done, Sam just let it go."

Sam didn't say anything back. It didn't change his mind and he was still frustrated. At Dean, at the demons, at everything.

They both kept silent and drove the remaining five hours to their destination.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Same day as last chapter._ **

**Bela's Loft**

Bela made her way quickly to her phone that was vibrating on the counter. She brought it up to her ear and answered.

"Miss Talbot?"

"Who's asking?"

The woman told Bela she worked for an old book store that Bela had stopped in a while ago and that they'd gotten in a book on demonic/occult information that Bela would be interested in.  It wasn't the first time Bela had left her name with occult stores and books stores looking for as much information on demon deals as she could. Usually she told people it was for research papers or something along those lines. 

"Great. Can I get the address again..."

The woman gave Bela the address.

"I can be there in a couple of hours. Thanks."

Bela grabbed her purse and keys and took money out of her safe as well, then headed out the door. These days, any information could be important.

Bela arrived in the north east tip of Delaware about two and a half hour later. She'd picked up the book and headed for her car, it was basically dark at this point. Bela had her hand on the car door when she heard a footstep behind her. Bela spoke up, not turning around yet.

"I'm not the type of girl one should sneak up on."

In this life, Bela had no doubt someone sneaking up on her, as careful as she always was, was related to hunting or demons.

"Bela Talbot." a deep voice said.

Bela turned toward the large man.

"You've got the advantage, I don't know who you are."

"Gordon Walker."

"Scratch that, I've heard of you. You were in prison though."

"Got out."

Bela had her car door open and her hand was checking the side compartment for her gun. A recently imprisoned hunter following her was definitely not good.

"Looking for this?"

Gordon held up Bela's gun. He then opened the gun up and made sure to show it was now empty before dropping it.

Bela sighed. _Great_.

"How did you find me...or more importantly what do you want with me?"

"Wasn't that hard. Rumor has it you were with the Winchester boys in Massachusetts. So I did my homework on you. I know you've been searching for demonic information so I set up your arrival. Dropped that book off and told her to call you."

Bela shot him a murderous look. "Told her...or threatened?"

"Doesn't matter. You're going to tell me where the Winchesters are."

Bela shook her head. She'd heard somewhere that another hunter, or hunters, were responsible for Gordon's imprisonment. If he was looking for the boys, maybe it was them.

"I don't know." she said.

Gordon raised his gun and pointed it at her. "Try again."

"I told you, I don't know where they are. We're not friends, we just worked the same case."

"Oh like you can't find out."

"Yeah well, I don't respond well to threats Walker. Sorry."

Gordon placed his finger on the trigger.

"I will kill you. I'm the one with the gun."

"I'm not going to just tell you, and you won't find them."

"Really? Because I will with or without your help eventually...but it's going to be far better for you if it's with your help. Be smart. No reason to die is there?"

Bela figured she could distract him for a bit. It wasn't that she wanted to protect the Winchesters so much as it was that no one was going to threaten her like this and get by with it. She'd learned that much at least.

"What do you want with the boys? Revenge?"

"Sam Winchester is the Antichrist."

Bela couldn't stop herself, she laughed.

"Oh right, I heard about that...from the Easter Bunny."

"Laugh all you want, it's true. He has to die."

"I've met him, that's about the last thing that bumbling hunter is. You're off your meds."

Gordon finally stepped forward quickly and yanked Bela's arm to pull her towards him. Bela used her training and fought back and elbowed him in the face. He yelled at her and they struggled, then finally she couldn't fight him anymore due his size and strength. She scolded herself for not coming up with a plan for this.

With a gun to her head and Bela's sense of self-preservation she finally agreed to at least try to find the boys. He let her go but kept his gun on her as Bela pulled out her phone.

**Outside of Impala. Night.**

Sam had been sitting in the Impala after Dean had gotten out to take a phone call. Sam finally stepped out of the car and looked over to Dean.

"What?" Sam asked, noticing Dean's strange look.

"That was Bela."

"Weird"

"No kidding."

"What did she want?" Sam asked, confused.

"I dunno, said she wanted to thank us for last week."

"Huh."

"And then she thanked me for 'showing her a good time.'

"Ew...seriously did you guys..."

"Dude, No! That's my whole point. Weird."

"Was she drunk?"

"Didn't seem like it. Who knows."

Dean shrugged.

"Whatever, let's just get to work. No point in trying to figure her out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay hope that chapter was okay, it didn't quite flow how I wanted it to. I wanted to NOT have Bela betray the boys...but she sorta has to in order to have her in the next few chapters. So i kinda made it so she was a little more forced into telling Gordon where they were. So that's why I had that last section...she implied that something was wrong in her conversation to Dean. Poor guys just a little slow on the update :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Next night.**

Dean made his way through the motel room door and locked the behind him. As expected, Sam was waiting for him with a lecture ready. However, Dean let it go in one ear and out the other and therefore Sam didn't continue and changed the subject.

"So Gordon got out huh? How the hell did he find us?"

"No idea...wait."

"What?"

Dean pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Dean? What are you doing?" Sam asked.

Dean just held up a finger telling Sam to hold on. It took about three rings and Dean got an answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bela..."

 _Oh...oops_. Bela thought,she'd forgotten to call him back with an explanation of her cryptic phone call.

"I'm gonna guess you didn't really call to say thank you." Dean continued.

"No...Gordon Walker made me tell him where you were."

"What the hell?!" Dean yelled.

"He had a gun to my head, what else was I supposed to do? Besides, I did try to warn you."

"You call that a warning? Hey maybe next you call back and say a raging psychopath was dropping by."

"I meant to...but I got sidetracked. Sorry. Look there are two of you, I'm sure you can handle Gordon better than I. He's one man."

"Yeah...there were two of them!"

"Oh."

"They tried to kill us. Ugh, I'm gonna kill you. We've got a nest of vamps and now a crazy hunter after us. Thanks."

"Look, I'm finished here...if it's that big a deal I can take care of the vampi..." She started.

"No thanks. I think you've done enough." Dean said, hanging up.

"Dean?" Bela sighed. Lovely. Dean was the type to hold a grudge, and she really didn't need that right now.

* * *

 

 **Outside of Bela's Car.** **Day**.

Bela Talbot first arrived at the hotel she was staying at a couple of hours earlier. She'd set everything up in her room and pulled out her talking board to get information. It wasn't exactly the conventional hunting thing to do, but she did things her own way. After trying quite a few times, she finally got information on a possible vampire attack.

So Bela had driven to the location and noticed an RV. She got out of her car, gun in hand, and other gear in her bag. She checked out the RV from the outside and hearing nothing she finally let herself in. She paused abruptly at the sight and had Bela not been used to this she would've had to turn away. She could tell it was definitely a vampire attack. However, she looked around the RV and it she soon figured out he'd been a hunter. She walked to the small table and noticed a note with Gordon's number on it. This was Gordon's partner? They were supposed to be hunting down Sam, so Bela wondered if this guy had decided to hunt the vampires too or if the vampire was the one who found the hunter. Strange.

Bela noticed the blood trail where the vampire had left the RV. She followed the trail and it stopped. So it seemed the vampire drove away, not just disappeared into the night.

**Hotel. Evening.**

Bela returned to the hotel to rest for a bit. She then pulled out the board again. She first had asked about Gordon, and then the vampires. She got two locations, in what she assumed was the right order, so she made the decision to get out her phone and let the boys know.

She waited for a few rings and Dean finally answered.

"What?" Dean asked sharply.

"Don't hang up...look, I found a location for you. On Gordon."

"How the hell did..." Dean started to ask.

"Hello...it's what I do. Anyways, I believe it's a warehouse. Riverfront. I'll text you the coordinates I was given."

**Dean and Sam's Motel.**

"Great." Dean still sounded annoyed.

"You and your brother handle Gordon, I'm already on the vampires, at least according to the information I was given." Bela said.

"Whoa, what? Nobody said you needed to come here and..."

"Yes well I'd rather not have you hold a grudge against me, and whether you were serious or not I'd rather you not threaten to kill me either."

"Whatever."

"Good luck...I think you'll need it considering the spirits said not to go after Gordon. For whatever that's worth."

"Awesome." Dean said, not that she could see him but he rolled his eyes anyway.

Bela then hung up. Dean put his phone down as Sam looked at him.

"Alright, well let's get this done." Dean said. They grabbed their things and headed to the Impala.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one as noted on FF was not a favorite chapter of mine to write. I hated to show Bela as being "weak" or anything because we know she is not. However I just tried to make it realistic...  
> Enjoy!

**Abandoned Building**

Dean and Sam pulled up to the location Bela had given them, pulled out their guns and headed inside. They paused once inside, both boys surprised at what they walked into. They took a fifty/fifty shot on the location and apparently they were the ones who found the vampire nest. Except all the vampires were dead other than the leader, who was chained up.

"Go ahead and kill me." said the vampire.

Dean turned to Sam, shrugging.

"What happened?"

"Gordon Walker."

Sam looked around and noticed something odd about the vampire headless bodies.

"Um...Dean."

"What?"

"These heads weren't cut off. Looks ripped off." Sam looked at the vampire again. "I'll ask again, what the hell happened?"

"I thought I could punish him, make him hate himself as much as he hated us."

"You turned him?" Sam questioned angrily.

"Oh you son of a bitch." Dean commented.

 **Warehouse**.

Bela arrived at the second location the spirits had given her, supposedly to find the vampire nest if the spirits were correct. She went into the warehouse with her gun stocked with wooden bullets, something Marcus had taught her, along with other weapons. She was a single female hunter, she knew her limitations. So beheading a vampire by herself without the perfect circumstance was just not a realistic expectation. So she usually would slow them down with the bullets, stake, and burn the bodies so that no mistake with the stake could be made. She was a decent fighter now and a good hunter but she wasn't over-confident. She was confident in herself and in her abilities, but she was also a deeply damaged young woman underneath. She didn't let fear show but it was always there. She knew where she was going when she died and therefore she did have a fear of death that most hunters didn't.

Bela stepped inside the warehouse and instead of finding the vampire nest she finds Gordon. He's not holding a gun on her this time and she's half ready to shoot him as soon as she sees him just because of what he did to her. However, she immediately noticed his bloodshot eyes and she felt a sense of danger immediately, more so than before. Gordon was immediately in front of her.

"Not a smart move, coming after me."

"Trust me, was not in my plan. However, since I'm here..."she trailed off, making a move to shoot him with the gun.

"Don't think so." Gordon said.

Bela pulled the trigger, but Gordon quickly moved behind her. She turned around and fired again, missing. He took the gun from her and they struggled. She stabbed his hand with the sharp stake she had tucked away and he winced and dropped his arm from around her. Bela took off and got halfway out the door, which she hoped would stop him since the sun was still up. Unfortunately Gordon caught up to her and yanked her back before she could get outside.

**Impala. Day.**

"This is just great. So now we got vampire Gordon to deal with." Dean said.

"Yeah." Sam agreed.

"Wait...crap."

"What?" Sam asked, confused.

"Bela."

"What about her?"

"She gave us two locations, one was supposed to be Gordon and the other was the nest of vampires. We found the nest. Which means..."

"She's running into Gordon, and she doesn't know what he is."

"Yeah."

"Her choice."

"Yeah I know...still."

Sam shook his head. This day just kept getting better.


	13. Chapter 13

**Motel Room. Night.**

Though suspicious, Dean and Sam didn't know exactly what Bela had got into with Gordon. The boys entered their motel room after searching several places for Gordon's location. The problem was that Bela had only given them the one warehouse, so they had no idea if she herself ended up where Gordon was or if he was at a different place all together. Dean had a hunch though, after all Bela hadn't called them to gloat about finishing off vampires...and she didn't call them with an update that she had yet to find the nest considering Gordon had already done that. So due to the fact that she hadn't checked in, Dean had reason to believe that she'd ran into trouble. Trouble meaning Gordon of course.

"This is ridiculous. We've searched up and down for any other warehouses, storage facilities, motels...Gordon could be anywhere." Dean said.

"Yeah, and we're running out of daylight. Won't have the sun to slow him down." Sam said.

"Awesome."

After a pause, Dean continued.

"Any way of tracking Bela's phone number?"

"No, I doubt she used a phone that'd be easily tracked plus we don't have a way of knowing what name she'd use on an account even if I did call the company about tracking it." Sam replied.

Dean sighed. He wasn't going to let Gordon win this one, he didn't make a deal to save Sam just for some crazy hunter-slash-vampire to kill him. And if Bela did end up there, she didn't really deserve to die either, even if she did sort of turn them over to Gordon. Dean knew that sometimes people got hurt because of him and Sam's lives, but he still hated it.

Dean grabbed the Colt and tucked it away, then threw his jacket back on.

"Look uh...why don't you stay put." Dean told Sam.

"What? Where you going now?"

"To keep trying to find 'em." Dean replied, tone serious.

"Not alone, you're not." Sam said, annoyed at his big brother yet again.

"Sam, I don't need your permission okay? He's after you, not me, and he's turbocharged. I want you to stay out of harm's way. I'll take care of it."

"Like hell."

Dean shrugged.

"So you're the guy with nothing to lose now, huh? Oh wait, let me guess. Because, uh, it's because you're already dead, right?" Sam half asked, half stated.

Dean shrugged again. "If it gets the job done."

"No...just no. You can cut it out Dean. I've had enough of you thinking you can just go out and treat each hunt like a suicide mission."

"What do you want me to do, Sam, huh? Sit around all day writing sad poems about how I'm gonna die? Not gonna happen, just drop it. So what I can do is fight more monsters and kick some ass without being worried about what's gonna happen. So shut up about it Sammy."

"Dude, drop the attitude. And you know something else? Stop trying to act like you're not afraid."

"I'm not."

"You're lying. And you may as well drop it 'cause I can see right through you."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. You're scared, Dean. You're scared because your year is running out, and you're still going to Hell, and you're freaked."

"And how do you know that?" Dean said, glaring at him...but eyes seeming to soften slightly.

"Because I know you! Better than anyone else in the entire world. And this is exactly how you act when you're terrified. And, I mean, I can't blame you. It's just...

"What?"

"I wish you would drop the show and be my brother again."

"Fine..okay whatever. But then what's the plan? We gonna just wait here for daylight? Let him kill someone else, or Bela? I'm not saying she's my favorite person in the world right now, but still...I don't feel that great about letting Gordon kill her."

"Maybe she figured out something was up and got the hell out of there before he found her."

"And wouldn't she have called to warn us?" Dean questioned.

"Oh, like she called to warn us she'd sent him to us in the first place?"

"Well...I mean she did give me that very cryptic message that something was off."

"Ok yeah but...you know I wanna save people, and she's a hunter...but she's kinda walking a thin line on what side she's on don't you think?"

"Yeah I know. Didn't say I trusted her Sam...just that I'd rather not let Gordon kill anyone. I'd rather be out there right now stopping him...we don't know how many people he's already torn into."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Ok."

* * *

 

**Factory. Night.**

Bela was sitting on the hard ground, hands behind her tied to a metal pole and a piece of cloth tied around her mouth. She was pissed, a bit terrified, and extremely annoyed with the new vampire standing close to her. She'd strongly disliked the guy while he was a hunter for threatening her like he did. Now, well she had good reason to hate him and want to give him a painful death.

_Great Bela, you've managed for years now handling yourself just fine and here you find yourself once more in over your head. Lovely._

She wasn't sure what the hell she'd been thinking when coming to help out the Winchesters. They really did attract trouble. Then again, she wasn't much better. She kept thinking of ways to get out of this one. Gordon had all her weapons, and now being a vampire he was even stronger and faster, it just wasn't realistic for her to try to take him out.

Gordon walked over to her, knife in hand. He held it up to her and slid the blade down her neck bringing with it a trail of blood. His eyes turned even deadlier and she could see he was about to lose control, that he wanted to just rip into her and bleed her dry. However, he somehow held on.

"Why aren't you killing me? I mean, you threatened to once before and now you're even more monstrous. What is with the capture?

"Because, I'm saving that for later. I need the Winchesters, and you're bate." Gordon answered.

Bela laughed.

"It's getting dark, they're not stupid…well not usually." she said, half smirking. "They won't come for me anyways, I'm not exactly high on their priority list. They're going to wait until morning and then come take you down."

Well, Bela could only hope that she didn't really believe what she was telling Gordon and that Dean and Sam really would get here soon and kill him.

"Oh I wouldn't count on that." Gordon said. He shoved past her and knocked into her as he walked over to the table to get something. Bela winced a little. While struggling against him earlier so she could try to get her knife in him she was pretty sure she had gotten a few crack ribs.

Gordon pulled out Bela's phone and held it up for her to see, then smirked. She glared back at him.

.


	14. Chapter 14

**Motel. Night**.

Dean and Sam paused their current conversation when Dean's phone went off. He answered on the second ring once he'd seen Bela's name come across the caller ID.

"Bela? Good you're there. The location was off and we need you to tell us whe…"

"Hello Dean." Gordon interrupted.

Dean stopped pacing suddenly and went quiet. Sam looked over at him.

"Gordon." Dean sighed. "What did you do?"

"Oh nothing…yet."

"Your fight's with us. So come get us. I'll even tell you where we're at."

Gordon laughed.

"Nah. You're coming to me…other wise your little hunter friend is going to die a nice slow death, or maybe I'll make her like me and you'll have to kill us both…isn't that right sweetheart?"

Gordon put the phone close to Bela's face.

"Well guess the spirits I contacted were right about this being a bad idea…" Bela grunted out. "It's dark though, maybe you should just stay put and come kill him tomorrow hmm?"

"Bela? Hey don't…"

"Don't give him the satisfaction Dean, I'm fine."

Gordon took the phone back.

"She won't be if you don't get you and your brother here soon. So what's it gonna be?"

"Gordon, don't do this, you're still a hunter. You don't kill people."

"No, I'm a monster now."

Gordon gave the boys an address and then hung up.

Bela gave Gordon a few more insults and finally when he'd had enough of her he knocked her over the head, falling unconscious.

* * *

 

**Factory, Night**

Dean and Sam took their time to check the perimeter, then finally slipped quietly into the factory through a back window. They made their way around and found Bela, who's still out cold.

"Bela?" Sam whispered. Dean walked up from behind Sam and knelt down.

"Hey, wake up." Dean said, gently shaking her. She finally stirred.

"You good?"

Bela nodded.

"Did he do anything to you?"

"No he didn't try to turn me if that's what you mean, but he had another girl here before me. Don't know if she's alive or not."

"Ok, Sam let's get Bela out and find the other girl, then look for Gordon."

Bela stood up slowly.

"I'll help, but I need my things." She nodded towards her guns and knife.

"Yeah not happening...you're barely standing."

"I'm fine, probably a concussion and a few bruised ribs...been there before. Besides, are you worried or something?"

"No!. But you're not okay...and you're getting the hell out of here."

"Where's Gordon. This was a trap, he's not just letting us leave you know." She told him.

"We left a jacket and some blood around front and made some noise. He's off looking for us. But he's a smart guy so let's get going huh?"

Dean grabbed her stuff and started helping her walk until he was sure she was steady. Sam returned with the other girl in his arms and they then made their way out of the factory. Once they got to an exit, Bela walked out the garage door and Sam handed the blonde girl to Dean to take outside. Sam keeps an eye out and is about to follow them when the garage door suddenly slams shut, locking Sam inside the factory alone.

"Damn it! Sam!" Dean yelled out.

"Told you it was a trap Dean. What kind of rescue was this? Next time, kill first rescue later. I can hold out just fine.

Bela limped over to the girl and checked her pulse. She didn't find it at first...but then she found a very weak one.

"She needs a hospital. I'll help you find a way in then I'll take her to...

"You have a concussion and you want to drive?"

"I've driven myself to the hospital on more than one occasion Dean."

"Whatever..."

Dean started hammering away at the door again. Bela made her way behind him but froze, feeling something wasn't right. She turned around a saw that the blonde girl they'd rescued was now standing right in front of her, eyes bloodshot, veins showing around them.

"Dean!" Bela yelled, she grabbed her gun and shot with the wooden bullets but the new vampire got to her faster and grabbed her since Bela's focus was slightly off. Dean turned around and yanked her off Bela but the blonde moved to attack him. Bela shot her and she froze in pain for a moment before attacking Dean again. Since Bela slowed the vampire down, Dean managed to grab the Colt and when the new vampire staggered back from one of Bela's bullets Dean shot her in the head with the Colt. She fell, convulsing, then died.

"What the hell?"

Dean just raised the Colt and shrugged.

"It kills all kinds of things."

"Yeah...wait, is that the rumored Colt?"

Dean nodded, and went back to trying to get in the door. Bela nodded in appreciation, she wasn't sure it was real. She half wondered if it worked on demons too like she'd heard.

"Guess that thing trumps wooden bullets and a knife."

"Yeah well...not a bad idea you had there either."

"Wasn't my idea, I learned a thing or two."

Dean and Bela worked on the door and finally got in again. Dean ran on ahead, leaving Bela to make sure the door stayed open.

Gordon and Sam were mid-fight, as Gordon attacked Sam, sending them both flying through the wall separating them from Dean. The impact briefly knocked the axe out of Sam's hand but he managed to get a hold of it before Gordon got to him. They continued to struggle, and Dean made his way from behind them and pointed the Colt at Gordon, but Gordon is going on full rage and high speed. He grabbed Dean'S arm, flung him across the room, then pinned him against the wall, sinking his teeth into Dean's neck. Sam got up in time to notice and yelled out to Gordon.

Bela stumbled over from her spot at the exit and aimed her gun at Gordon, hitting him in the chest. Sam then had time to charge at Gordon and knock him across the back of the head. Gordon turned away from Dean and went after Sam, knocking him back, then slammed him across a worktable. Sam managed to grab a piece of cloth and an end of razor wire in each hand, and as Gordon pinned him down again Sam wrapped the razor wire around Gordon's neck and pulled. Gordon choked out a grunt, and Sam grit his teeth and pulled harder. Blood began to drip from his hands where the razor wire was cutting in, but he kept going until he cut all the way through Gordon's neck and sent his head tumbling. He let out a large sigh from the effort, and looked down at Gordon's body.

Bela stares at Sam in surprise. Did he really just do that? Okay, he really was insane.

Dean staggered to his feet, groaning and coughing and clutching his neck. He looked over in surprise at the headless Gordon, then back up at Sam, who shrugs. They stumble off, neither of them moving very well.

"You just charged a super-vamped-out Gordon with no weapon. And you call me reckless?" Dean shook his head.

Sam shrugged again. The three of them made their way out of the building. Bela went to her car but Dean stopped her.

"Don't even think about it, 'cause I don't wanna feel guilty when someone finds you on the side of the road. You can't even walk a straight line."

"I told you I was fine."

"And I don't believe you."

Dean grabbed her arm and pulled her along with them to the Impala. He let Sam drive.

* * *

 

**Motel Room. Night.**

Sam went in to shower while Dean and Bela started cleaning up their wounds.

"You good?" Dean asked.

Bela had checked out her ribs earlier before Sam took the bathroom over, she was 99% sure she was only a little banged up.

"Yeah, I really should go...

"Not with a concussion. You can stay put on this couch. Even you gotta know better than to fall asleep like that."

She shrugged. "Don't sleep that much anyway, I'm used to it. You're not exactly fairing much better there Dean. Let's hope your little bite doesn't become infected." She smirked, teasing.

Dean laughed and rolled his eyes. "Very funny. You know, I'd say sorry Gordon dragged you into this..."

"But you're not?" she offered.

"Well I am, but then again I did tell you that you didn't need to come help."

"Well to be fair, I'm a hunter and this is my job too."

"...and your stubborn." he added.

"Getting surprised by Gordon wasn't expected, obviously. Being caught off guard like that isn't something that usually happens to me. Especially twice in three days."

"Good to see your self confidence wasn't taken down any from this." Dean smirked.

Bela shrugged nonchalantly. "Look...I'd apologize for sending Gordon your way...but..."

"Wouldn't suit you?"

"No, not really."

"Then don't. Guess next time you leave cryptic messages about the two of us and non-existent sex, I'll remember that I should be on guard and watch out for some pyscho killer."

"I thought that would get your attention. Obviously not enough though if you still were that surprised by Gordon and therefore pissed at me."

"Yeah I just...I've been on edge lately. Not really your fault I guess. But it's Sam and..."

"And you don't like anyone messing with him, yeah I've noticed. You didn't have to come after me tonight Dean."

"Yes well, like you said, it's our job. Leaving anyone, especially another hunter, to die isn't something we like to do. Even one like you...

"One like me?"

"You don't always seem to be doing it to save people...or at least you're closed off about it anyways. Granted I guess that's a lot of hunters now days."

"Caring too much gets people dead, don't tell me you haven't realized that." She offered as a reasonable answer.

"That what happened to you?"

"Not your business, remember?"

"Right...you don't talk about you. Got it." He shook his head.

God he was stubborn...Bela figured she needed to give him something. She didn't want to care what he thought about her. She'd made the mistake of caring before. But for some reason she didn't want him to think she was a selfish bitch…okay sometimes she _was_ a selfish bitch.

"Fine I...I had this hunter training me, and we got close, he was a mentor. And the first person to give a damn about me in years, but knowing me got him killed. I just really don't feel like caring about anyone anymore."

"He was a hunter? Doesn't that make him a target anyways? Why blame yourself?"

She shrugged.

"Oh...back during the ghost ship thing you said telling someone about whatever it is you did got them killed. It was him." Dean stated.

She nodded. "Like I said, helping me ended up biting him in the ass. I just...it's my secret Dean and I'm taking this one to the grave."

Dean had no idea how quickly that would be though.

"Ok...then don't tell me. Doesn't mean you shouldn't care about people you save when hunting."

"You know I never said I didn't, it's just easier to pretend not to. You stop caring things stop hurting."

"Nah, they don't. It just feels like it stops hurting."

"Speaking from experience?

"I held things in when my dad passed. Sam tried to get me to talk about it, but I didn't. I wasn't in a good place for a while, but we dealt with it and and eventually things got better."

She nodded.

Dean walked over to the table and poured the bottle of whiskey he'd had packed into two glasses. He then walked over to Bela and handed her one.

"Don't know if you even want this bu…." he started. But Bela took the glass and downed it in one drink.

"Right."

"British, remember? I can handle my liquor."

"I'll remember that from now on." Dean smirked.

"Not that'll you'll need to. I'd like to think you don't plan on purposely running into me again."

"Things do seem to get complicated for us. Though you're a good shot, so I guess you're a little useful."

"Was that a compliment..sort of?"

Dean shook his head. "Just a fact."

"Sure."

Dean put his glass down, and kneeled down in front of her. "Okay, how many fingers?"

"Seriously?" She rolled her eyes.

"What, I'm gonna flop down on that bed over there and sleep, so thought I'd make sure you were good first. Assuming I can trust you not to murder us in our sleep and take off in my car."

She smirked. "That sounds appealing actually."

He mock glared at her.

Sam then came out of the bathroom. He gave them a questioning look.

"I think we're gonna live. You seem fine..."

"Yeah." Sam said, shrugging. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Better than us. Though you did just slice Gordon's head off with razor wire. Which by the way was disgusting, even to me." Bela said.

"Didn't see you guys doing much better. It worked."

"Yeah…yeah it certainly worked Sammy. Nicely done...but she's a little bit right." Dean said, and laughed.

"Yes, do remind me never to really piss you off." Bela chimed in.

"Nice." Sam said, shaking his head.

After a moment of silence, the boys headed to their respective beds and left Bela sitting up on the couch. She felt conflicted about the entire situation. Dean wasn't so bad…and she really hated that. She didn't want to like the guy at all. And really, he made it easy to want to piss him off…and yet she felt it much too fun to banter with him and have a conversation with the man. She needed to get a hold of herself and get far away from the Winchesters. She'd made herself a promise, she was going at this alone. But the more time she spent around them the more she wished she had what they had. Someone to look out for, or vice versa. Someone to trust. She just didn't want it to be Dean, that could be a dangerous thing. Didn't help that she was extremely attracted to the man…granted you'd have to be blind not to. She was sure even a female batting for the other team would find him attractive. Not that Sam was ugly…but he wasn't his brother. There was something in Dean that matched herself, something that linked them. Bela just wasn't sure what it was. But it would do no good to become friends with the boys...if she didn't find a way out of her deal she wouldn't be here that much longer, so it seemed to be pointless to get close to them.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter to end "Fresh Blood" episode. More coming soon & as soon as I'm caught up with FF I'll start on new chapters!

**Early Morning. Motel**.

It was 5:00AM and Bela had managed to keep herself awake all night. At this point, she was fairly certain she was fine and ready to go. She'd let herself sleep after a while and wanted to hit the road towards home. She grabbed herself a glass of water and took an Excedrin for her head. She didn't want to bother with finding a coffee around the motel but in her state if she didn't have it she was bound to get a headache at some point. Not that a headache had ever stopped her before, it was more of an annoyance.

Dean stirred awake quietly, and noticed Bela getting ready to leave. He sat up gently, partly because of the ass kicking he'd received yesterday and partly so he didn't wake Sam up.

"Going somewhere?" he asked her quietly.

She just noticed Dean sitting up now, but he hadn't startled her. Gordon was the first person to get the jump on her in a long time, because she kept herself fully aware of her surroundings.

"Yes, home. Though probably not in one day."

"In what car?"

She sighed.

"And seeing as your still conscious and functioning, shouldn't you sleep first?"

"Not the first time I've gone a couple of days with no sleep Dean. I'm fine. As for the car, I figured I'd call a…"

"Don't bother." Dean said, and looked over to sleeping Sam. He got out of bed slowly and grabbed his duffel bag. "Give me a minute."

"I am perfectly capable of calling myself a cab or whatever." she said, huffing slightly.

"Seriously, when someone offers to be nice you should take it. Especially since I don't normally do nice."

He reached the bathroom and pulled the door shut. No more than two minutes later he was walking back out. Dean left a note for Sam and then grabbed his keys.

"Alright, come on."

She followed him out, shaking her head at his stubbornness.

* * *

 

**Parking lot, Abandoned Factory. Day.**

"Well this has been fun, as usual. Thanks for the ride Winchester…however we can only hope for a longer break between seeing each other next time." Bela said, giving him a half-serious half-playful look.

"You know, you could have just stopped at "thanks for the ride". " Dean said, grinning.

"Yes, but that would be too much like a real thank you and we know I'm not good at those." She replied, smirking slightly.

"You're something else."

"Mmhhmm I'd have to agree." Bela leaned over in the seat. "Well goodbye then. Do try staying out of trouble, or at least keep me out of it." She laughed, then placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, then promptly exited the car.

"Keep you out of it? I think you find trouble just fine by yourself. You know, if you don't stop finding ways to kiss me I may start to think you like me."

Bela laughed out loud. "Don't flatter yourself, I was just being polite."

"Didn't think you did polite sweetheart." Dean said sarcastically.

"Only when I'm faking it." She grinned.

Dean shook his head. "Alright, go away now."

She turned around and sauntered over to her vehicle, bag in tow. Dean really had no idea what to make of that woman. He kinda wanted to hate her just because…but something about her made it hard to do completely. Yeah, she was alright by hunter standards. Other than Bobby and a very small number of others, there weren't many hunters he liked. Maybe if he kept pulling away at her walls she'd eventually be a good alai. After all, they had a demon war to fight. Then again, getting Bela to work with them would be quite the task.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost caught up! 
> 
> Even after editing this I don't love how I wrote out the texting...but I just couldn't fix it right so it'll have to do, so I guess "sorry" & "deal w/ it?" Is all I can say? Lol

**Maine. December 22, 2007.**

Bela Talbot ended a hunt yesterday, a relatively easy one, not that any hunt was easy but it was better than most. Which had given her plenty of time to get back to working on her demon deal. As usual she had hit a dead-end on her research.

Bela walked over to the table after getting another cup of coffee, her third cup that morning, and opened up her computer. She planned to start a new search on Lilith, but something else caught her eye. Again before she could really get into her demon problem she'd found another case to work, and decided to drop her research for the next several days. Really it was all a vicious cycle. Hunt, research, repeat. She promised herself another "time out" as soon as this next case was done. No hunting for a few weeks. She didn't need a calendar to tell her the days, hours, minutes until her time was up. Now she just had to get finished with this new job.

* * *

 

**Michigan, Early Day, December 24 2007**

It had been five weeks, give or take a few days, since Sam had killed Gordon. The boys returned to their usual hunting and Sam continued to secretly look for a way to get Dean out of his deal. The problem was that it was distancing them still. Dean wasn't as oblivious as he let Sam believe and knew what Sam was doing, at least in a way.

So…any theories yet?" Dean asked Sam about their latest case.

"You're gonna laugh, and probably not believe me."

"Sammy, is there anything I won't believe considering what we do for a living?"

"Fine…an evil Santa." Sam said, totally serious...well at least for a second.

Dean laughed. Hard.

"Told you."

"Ok you're right…I don't believe you. Seriously? There is no evil Santa, considering there is no real Santa at all."

"Yeah, I know. You're the one who told me that when I was a kid."

Dean looked down, just a bit guilty feeling.

"You're right I guess…I could be wrong. Actually, I probably am this time." Sam said.

"Maybe, maybe not." Dean replied. "Though I'll go with maybe."

"What?"

"I did a little digging. Turns out both victims visited the same place before they got snatched."

"Where?" Sam asked.

 

**Hours Later.**

After checking out Santa's village, the boys found the suspect whom they believed could be the Anti-Claus, and had come back to the motel to find a way to kill him. So far, they hadn't been lucky in their search.

* * *

 

**Maine. Same Day. 1 hour Later.**

Bela hated asking for help. But she'd done a lot of searching and was in a hurry this time, and had no clue how to kill the monsters she was after. She tried an old hunter she knew first, then Bobby. Neither answered. She'd waited and called Bobby a couple more times before giving up. She'd stupidly left her talking board at home.

She finally picked her phone up once more. Honestly she had spent much of her night up reading a new book on deals and exhausted herself, which was probably the reason for her lack of motivation on this case. She usually focused one hundred and this time Bela just was tired. She knew this was probably a terrible idea but she was fine with that at this point.

* * *

 

 **Michigan**.

Dean walked out of the bathroom, finally showered and dressed. He was hoping his brother would hurry back with food (and that Sam didn't forget the damn pie!). He figured it was Sam when his phone rang, and he just happened to notice the caller ID first. He took a minute to figure out the number before answering.

"Well…I am completely and unpleasantly surprised to hear from you." Dean answered, smirking.

"Unpleasantly? That's a big word for you Winchester."

Dean rolled his eyes even though she couldn't see. "What do ya want?" he said, faking a sweet tone.

"I have a question about a hunt and your old friend isn't answering. So, against my better judgment I called you. Maybe you should give the phone to Sam though."

"Hey, who says I can't be helpful."

"I do. But I'll give it a shot. I have people, mostly men, being tortured and killed. Clearly not by a human. I've connected all the victims and the conclusion is that they're all "bad" people. Naturally, some of them have turned their lives around but whatever's been killing them doesn't seem to care. After research and finally checking my board, I've got an answer."

"And…"

"Furies."

"Like um, mythology furies? Seriously, first an evil Santa and now this."

"Sorry?" Bela questioned, then continued. "Whatever, I take it you don't know how the bloody hell to kill them then? Seriously, I've done research for hours and I'm on a bit of a tight schedule to get this hunt done."

"Um…." Dean started.

"Like I said, put your brother on the phone please."

"He's out getting food."

"Wonderful "

"I'll check Dad's journal. We've never come across Furies before."

"Great…do it quickly."

"Seriously? Where's the please? I don't have to even look you know!'

Bela sighed. "Fine…do it quickly, please".

"A little better…if only you meant it." Dean teased.

"Why are you in such a cheery mood Dean?"

"Hello, it's Christmas time. I swear between you and Sam…Scrooge ain't got nothing on the two of you."

"There's no point. I like Christmas just fine and I can enjoy it occasionally, but if you expect me to somehow switch personalities and be excited, you're crazy."

"Uh huh…okie dokie. I'll call you if I find anything. In the meantime…happy hunting." Dean laughed.

"You are quite irritating Winchester."

Bela shook her head as Dean hung up the phone moments later Sam walked in.

He gave Dean a questioning look.

"Bela."

Sam looked up in surprise. "Umm why?"

"She was wishing us a Merry Christmas."

Sam then gave him a "yeah right" look.

"Ok fine she wanted info on Furies. Know anything about how to kill 'em?"

"I had a mythology class at Standford. But how to kill them? No clue. I remember that pretty much everything said they weren't to be killed. In fact, I don't think they can be."

"As much as I wanna say why kill things that are murdering bad people, Bela informed me that they've extended their kills to people that have changed and are leading better lives. So I guess if we find anything, we should tell her.

"She actually called for help?"

"Guess she's in a hurry for some reason. She tried Bobby."

"Talked to him yesterday. He's out somewhere hunting in the middle of nowhere."

Dean shrugged. "Then again, it's her problem right?"

"Wow who's the grumpy one now?"

"Not grumpy, but me and her don't exactly get along."

"Because you both are stubborn and sometimes come with an attitude problem? Can't imagine why you guys don't get along better." Sam said, with a surprising amount of sarcasm for him.

"Thanks for taking my side Sammy."

"No sides here…I never said I liked her. But I ignore her when she's making her snide remarks…you don't. So for some reason, you let her get to you, so maybe you kinda like that she can."

"Like it? Hell no. Look, let's go get Mr. Anti-Claus and you can research while I drive."

**1 hour later.**

Bela's phone rings, she answers it quickly.

"Well?" Bela answered impatiently.

"Dean was right…you're in a mood."

"Well if it isn't the smarter brother, finally. Can you just tell me what you found?"

"Hey! You're on speaker." Dean said.

"Aww I'm so sorry honey. I'm sure reminding you of that hurts."

"Bela." Sam warned.

She just laughed. In reality, she actually found Dean much more fun and even though she hated admitting it even to herself, he happened to be the better looking brother.

Sam continued. "Checked into this website I remembered using for class once, and it mentioned decapitation."

"I researched for hours. And you find that in one hour?"

"Doesn't show up on the searches easily, but I remembered a part of the name on the site and then it came up. Lucky you."

"Decapitation. Great, that shouldn't be too hard." Bela said with heavy sarcasm lacing her tone.

"One other thing." Sam started. "You have to do it during one of their attacks, so when they're using their power to torture the victim. Otherwise, not sure it'd work."

"So, I have to figure out how to get close enough to decapitate a Fury, and in the middle of them being in full on killer mode. Fantastic."

"Fury, as in one?" Sam asked.

"Apparently this one went solo, or so the evidence points to. However, that actually makes sense as most of them have changed and are protective these days, only going after extreme evil...or something like that. Honestly all the pages have run together at this point."

"Fun, speaking of mythology, we've got to go deal the Anti-Claus, good luck." Dean said.

"The what?"

"You know, Santa's evil twin." Dean laughed.

"Oh that's cute Dean."

"Sam came up with it…and you say he's the brains."

Sam didn't even reply, just shook his head. He was going to stay out of their banter.

"Well then it must be true" Bela rolled her eyes, not that they could see. "Good luck." Bela said, hanging up.

"God that woman is freaking infuri…."

"Again, you completely are asking for her to do that. Do you realize when I ignore her, she leaves me alone?"

Dean sighed. "Yeah well…whatever. Clearly she likes you better"

"Likes me? Wow Dean, are you 12? Plus, I doubt she likes anyone."

"Good point."

* * *

 

**Next Day.**

Bela had to get creative, but in the end she managed to remove the Fury's head. Unfortunately the rogue Fury's attack ended up being focused on Bela herself. As with the ghost ship case, her past always bit her in the ass. This Fury was going after anyone who'd ever done anything, so making a demon deal, Bela had been an easy target. Luckily for her, the Fury hadn't expected Bela to be armed to kill. She ended the night with another couple of cuts that would probably become scars, but she'd become accustomed to it by now. So Furies weren't supposed to be killed? Well that was too bad.

And in another surprising twist (or not so surprising if you didn't really believe there could be an Anti-Claus), Sam and Dean dealt with Gods and not an evil Santa. They finally got back to the motel and decided to have a small Christmas with pizza and beer, and watched part of a game.

Dean's phone lit up, and he grabbed it, then read the text.

  _Merry Christmas. Guess I owe you guys one now._

Dean laughed to himself. Really? Guess she wasn't dead. Then he had a moment of panic wondering why he'd let out a breath of relief at the knowledge that Bela was okay.

[Keeping Score? I believe that's like 3 you owe us. Ghost ship, Gordon, and now.]

Bela smirked on her end.

  _I paid you for the ghost ship thing. So you're down to 2 sweetie. Actually I think I paid my dues with Gordon when he tied me up and knocked me out."_

Dean thought for a second. Then started to type again.

[ _Thought you wanted to go a very long time without seeing us again.]_

After a moment Bela responded.  

_I'm not seeing you. I'm texting you. That doesn't count. Though to be honest, I'm not sure I'm a fan of the texting thing._

Dean shook his head at her, not that she could see.

[ _So, how's your Christmas?]_

Bela shook her head. Dean Winchester was annoying, that's all she could think at that moment. Well, until she thought that Dean's text question about her Christmas seemed sincere. _What was wrong with him? Hell, what was wrong with her that she even was going to respond._

  _I'm in the need of a long shower, have a few more bruises than I did the other day, and am ready for a drink. Today Christmas is just another day._

[ _Okay Scrooge._ ]

Not that Dean could see, but she rolled her eyes again.

  _I'm not Scrooge. Like I said, I may be somewhat of a bitch, but I like a glass of wine and cry during It's a Wonderful LIfe same as the next person._

Dean grinned a bit to himself after she called herself a bitch.

[ _I'll try to remember that the next time I get the urge to shoot at you.]_

   _Just know that I will shoot back._

[I _know_.]

  _Whatever Winchester, enjoy your Christmas. I'll try to avoid calling you anytime soon._

[Sure. I don't know if that's something you can do.]

  _Trust me, I can._

Dean thought of responding but ended the conversation with a short "ok".


End file.
